Healthcare Technology Featured Article

August 31, 2015

Health Tech & the Millennial Patient

For a while, baby boomers were all we heard about. They were the largest generation, and the ones that already consumed so much of the healthcare resources we had saved. But now, as the years have passed, it appears we’ve reached a point where the millennial generation has actually taken the reigns as the largest living generation. And while they are already facing a depleted pool of resources for the future, there is also an interesting change in how these patients will be getting healthcare, and taking preventative measures—all thanks to technology.

Millennial patients are far more focused on prevention than their predecessors—so this will have an impact on the healthcare market in some way—but they also have access to resources and information that the prior generation was only getting a taste of recently (if they were lucky enough to be tech savvy).

According to recent survey results presented by Nuance, the consumer landscape is actually now shifting vastly with these two generations transitioning.

The survey, “How Millennials shop for healthcare,” surveyed 3,000 people across the globe and uncovered the differences in how millennials expect to receive care and even how they shop around for providers.

One of things millennials do differently than previous generations, according to the survey, is how they pick providers and where they have services done. With everyone connected on social networks today it’s easy to share experiences or offer referrals to friends and family or post reviews and affect the decisions of others. Because of this, it’s important for providers to ensure their patients are happy with the services they receive since negative reviews can have a serious impact.

For providers, this also means taking the time to shift how they have operated in the past and adapt to meet new generations’ health needs. The best course of action is to understand and find ways to reach the millennial patient generation. Without doing so, Trace Devanny, President of the Healthcare Division, Nuance warns organizations face the threat of their businesses going extinct in the market.